New Zealand Private Sector Wages for Q2 grew at the slowest pace since the end of 1999, a government report showed. Economists were taken by surprise after the release underscored their expectations by 0.2 percentage points. Wages for the period continue to add detail to an already clear image of a nation suffering from a sixth straight quarter of economic contraction. Labor data on Wednesday is expected to show that the unemployment rate in the same period jumped by 0.7 percentage points to 5.7%. The estimate, however, might come to be a bit too optimistic. Weaker-than-expected wage data may have come on the back of over-accelerating slashes to the payroll count among employers.